The present invention relates generally to dynamic hypertext markup language (DHTML) web pages and, more specifically, to a method for creating and viewing a spreadsheet web page.
Traditional spreadsheets and ledgers are large sheets of paper with columns and rows that accountants use to detail sets of business transactions such as expenses and revenues. A spreadsheet lays out a comprehensive set of numerical values and calculations on a single sheet of paper.
Conventional electronic spreadsheets are implemented as a standalone program executed on a data processor. A desktop electronic spreadsheet is a spreadsheet that executes on a standalone desktop computer and organizes information into columns and rows within an electronic ledger. Like its physical counterpart, a desktop electronic spreadsheet can add and view data to help explore business issues. An advantage of the electronic version of a spreadsheet is that data can be added by “formula” instead of by hand. Thus, when a number is changed in an electronic spreadsheet cell, the effect on the entire scenario can be seen immediately.
Ever since early electronic spreadsheets, such as VisiCalc, desktop electronic spreadsheets have been used to organize and tabulate data. A currently popular spreadsheet is Microsoft's Excel 2000 spreadsheet, which allows the user to enter data into “cells” of the spreadsheet and to tabulate and organize those cells. While Excel 2000 allows the user to enter, for example, a link to the World Wide Web (“the web”) into a cell, Excel and most desktop spreadsheet applications are not designed with the web in mind. What is needed is a spreadsheet that allows users to make full use of the capabilities of the web and to include data only available via the web. This invention allows the spreadsheet to be displayed or edited in a web browser, without installing a specific application program.